Joss Whedon Has a Remedy for That Troubled 'Justice League' Movie

How do you solve a problem like the Justice League? It’s no secret that fans of the superhero team have been yearning for a big screen adaptation. But Warner Bros. has delayed a live-action film more times than we can count. With Marvel’s The Avengers hitting theaters this summer, we can’t help but wonder–what’s the holdup with the next superhero collaboration? Director Joss Whedon has an idea of where DC Comics and Warner Bros. may be going wrong.

This afternoon, the cast and crew of The Avengers participated in a press conference promoting their superhero extravaganza. During the event, a journalist asked Whedon a pretty intriguing question: “What advice would you give Warner Bros. on getting their Justice League movie going?”

Joss Whedon: It’s enormously difficult to take very disparate characters and make them work. And DC has a harder time with it than Marvel because their characters are from a bygone era. Their characters were bigger than we were. They’ve amended that but Marvel really cracked the code in terms of ‘Oh, they’re just like us.’ A dose of that sort of veracity that Marvel really started with Iron Man, I think you need to use that as a base.

Do you agree with Whedon’s sentiment? Does the size of the characters keep audiences from relating or accepting them on the big screen? To be fair, not every Justice League member is an intergalactic being. Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary and the Flash are pretty relatable on a human level. But for some reason, the WB still can’t get their act together.

Oh, Whedon should know better than that. To talk about characters that are "from a bygone era who are bigger than we are" when you've got effing Thor the Norse god of thunder in your line up? I guess he's taken to toeing the company line.

joeybaloney

Really? Thor’s a Norse God? That's your complaint and that makes Whedon "toeing the company line"? Marvel comics, in general, humanized the god-like heroes giving them normal problems like making rent, alcoholism or worrying about homework – which instantly made them more relatable than the more mythic and unflappable DC creations. DC eventually jumped onto that bandwagon but apparently don’t know how to translate that to the screen. Specific to your issue Thor was sent to Earth to learn humility so a lot of arrogant jerks should be able to relate with that. Read a comic book for Pete's sake.

Your Face

Thor as a Marvel character is very different from the God, and Marvel had him sharing a body with a frail doctor to make him relate-able. All of Marvel's early creations were analogies for the human condition: Hulk was about rage, about the damage we cause when we lose control, The X-Men were an analogy for racism and bigotry, Spider-Man was the fantasy of every bullied teen, the Fantastic Four explored the family dynamic, etc. Marvel elevated comics from a childish medium to a legitimate form of literature and artistic expression, and the Marvel Films to this point have continued that tradition, was the point that Whedon was getting at.

Mike

He is talking about the popularity of the characters back when they were created. We're talking comics – not Greek Mythology.

Thor is BASED on a Norse god, but they didn't just take the god, exactly as he was, and slap him in there. DC heroes are older and almost certainly more famous. Everyone knows how Batman and Superman are supposed to act. Less people knew the real personalities of Iron Man and the Hulk, which gave Marvel a base to shape them into what was necessary for the movies.

I think that the justice league movie should be made. but they need to do what mavel did. so now we need to look for a woner women then we will be all set.

http://website Elisha Bar Edwardz

All these comics creators, from Lee & Kirby to Bob Kane & the Superman guys are Jewish(ashkenazi), so Biblical heroes inform all of these iconic characters.

ronnie42

It's probably because green lattern movie was terrible, would ruin the justice league movie, it probably be better just having a batman/superman crossover like the animated series.

Jeff Shelton

I think Marvel has a brilliant approach. You have to give other characters their own movie. Like Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Arrow. But DC keeps pushing it back or canceling it. Also characters like Superman and Batman need something to tie it in. Now the current Batman series has no sign it'll be related to the project, and a new one isn't due until 2015. Which means we probably couldn't get a Justice League movie until 2016, at least. If they really want to do it, they'd probably have to start with Man of Steel next year, if there's still time to drop the hints, like Nick Fury in the end of Iron Man.

Bongkerz

That's the thing, the reason why JLA is so much of pain to make compared to the Avengers is that, with the latter, they all seem very grounded and they're powers are not that all too overwhelming, except for Thor being a god and all. With Justice League, you have More than 1 godly character, and it's very hard to fit Batman since he's too grounded of a character to be included in the movie. Batman on the other hand fits very well in The Avengers if you think about it. Sucks for DC huh?

Earth-2Flash

Warner Brothers just needs to comitt to making the movie. They make so many DC vertigo movies, that they are ignoring their main heroes. Make a Wonder Woman movie, or a Flash, or both. And then just make a JLA movie. If not, at least attempt to make a crossover of some sort. Marvel is completely raping DC right now when it comes to movies.